Ukrainian woman, 98, escapes Russian-occupied home on foot with slippers, cane
by Associated Press, April 30, 2024, Kyiv Ukraine
A 98-year-old woman in Ukraine who escaped Russian-occupied territory by walking almost 10 kilometers (6 miles) alone, wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane has been reunited with her family days after they were separated while fleeing to safety…
Young women fear return to a broken land of rubble and brutality
by Caroline Hawley, BBC June 29 2024
It’s 10 years since Islamic State militants tried to wipe out the Yazidi people in the Sinjar region in northern Iraq. They massacred thousands of men, and raped and enslaved girls and women. Now survivors face a new fear as the Iraqi government plans to close down the tented camps where they live, in other parts of the country, to encourage them to return to the areas they fled from…
Reporting on Life Among Ruins
by Lydie Lake, Books, Interview, Ukraine, 27 Jun 2024
Jen Stout’s Night Train to Odesa: Covering the Human Cost of Russia’s War – published on 2 May – delves into her years reporting on the war in Ukraine through the many faces and friends she met along the way…
Reparations to be paid to survivors of wartime sexual violence in Ukraine
First payments to be made during an ongoing conflict is ‘important step towards restoring justice’, says first lady, Olena Zelenska
by Weronika Strzyżyńsk, The Guardian, 26 Apr 2024
The first reparation payments are to be made in the next few weeks to survivors of wartime rape by Russian soldiers during the invasion of Ukraine, in a move that Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, called “an important step towards restoring justice”. Up to 500 Ukrainian survivors of conflict-related sexual violence are being identified and awarded with interim reparations this year, including financial, medical and psychological support. Zelenska said: “Reparations to victims of gross human rights violations, including victims of conflict-related sexual violence, are not just about economic support. It is an important step towards restoring justice…
Still Waiting For the Sky to Close:
Women’s Organizations at the Frontline of the Ukrainian Crisis Two Years On
Voice, Amplifying Women and Girls in Crisis, 2024
… VOICE’s latest report, in partnership with HIAS, highlights how a lack of adequate resourcing and support has put immense pressure on many women’s rights organizations, many of whom are concerned about their capacity to continue supporting women and vulnerable populations from their communities in addition to those displaced by the war. It also highlights continued critical service gaps for those displaced, including housing, economic support and gender-based violence services. …
Ukraine’s Stolen Children
Documentary, CBC Gem, 64 min., Feb 23, 2024
Veteran journalist and filmmaker Shahida Tulaganova tells the story of the thousands of children reported missing from Ukraine in 2022, who were taken away in the months after the Russian invasion.
Generation of Fire: Young Ukrainians forced to survive first, plan for future later
by Kate Tsurkan, Kyiv Independence, Feb. 24, 2024
“The past two years have flown by. It’s hard to keep up with everything that has happened, so I haven’t been able to process how much I miss home yet,” Larysa, an 18 year-old Ukrainian who has been living in Vienna since the start of Russia’s all-out war, told the Kyiv Independent…
The Israeli and Palestinian Women Calling for Peace
By Yasmeen Serhan, Time, Feb. 21, 2024
On Oct. 4, 2023, some 1,500 Israeli and Palestinian women descended on Jerusalem and the shores of the Dead Sea. Wielding blue and yellow flags representing two different grassroots peace organizations, they gathered to demand an end to the “cycle of bloodshed” consuming their communities and for their respective leaders to return to the negotiating table to secure a nonviolent resolution to their decades-long conflict. “This is a historic partnership of two women’s movements,” said Yael Admi, a co-founder and leader of the Israeli movement Women Wage Peace…
Yazidi woman held by IS for 10 years freed by Kurdish fighters in Syria
Iraqi, 24, rescued with her children from al-Hawl camp after being abducted then raped and forced into marriage
AP in Beirut, The Guardian, 5 Feb 2024
The SDF said the Women’s Protection Units, or YPJ, liberated the Yazidi woman on Sunday saying that she is originally from Hardan village in Iraq’s Yazidi heartland of Sinjar. The statement said the woman was abducted by IS fighters during the 2014 massacres committed by the extremists during which they killed thousands of men and took many women and teenage girls who were held as sex slaves…
EU agrees €50bn package for Ukraine as Viktor Orbán bows to pressure
Lisa O’Carrall, The Guardian, Feb 1, 2024
…With support for Ukraine’s war effort faltering in Washington, leaders stressed the importance of the decision which would help underwrite Ukraine’s public services including teachers, doctors and soldiers’ pay for the next four years…
Amal Clooney is representing over 400 plaintiffs in lawsuit seeking ‘accountability for genocide against Yazidis’
By Sabrina Souza and Zoe Sottile, CNN, December 17, 2023
… “Lafarge has admitted to a conspiracy that aided ISIS by providing millions of dollars in cash to ISIS, and is alleged to have provided ISIS with cement to construct underground tunnels and bunkers used to shelter ISIS members and hold hostages, including captured Yazidis,” the news release states….
Russia to hold presidential election in annexed Ukrainian regions; new Russian offensive on Avdiivka – as it happened
by Yohannes Lowe and Sammy Gecsoyler, The Guardian, Dec 11 2023
Vladimir Putin confirmed on Friday he will run for president in March 2024 election; Ukrainian military says 610 military shellings on town in past day.
Ukraine’s Stolen Children review – the laughter of the Russian children’s commissioner is shocking
by Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian, Oct 23, 2023
This calm, vivid documentary looks at the thousands of youngsters missing amidst the invasion – and their families’ search…
Children arrive in Belarus after being illegally removed from Ukraine
by Lorenzo Tondo, Sept 19, 2023, The Guardian
Almost 50 children from Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia were removed by Belarusian charity, according to Belta
Ukraine war: Training to clear the world’s most heavily mined country
By Jonathan Beale, BBC News, Sept 24, 2023
Ukraine is now the most heavily mined country in the world, and it’s slowing down Ukrainian military advances.
Fighting to free the [Yazidi] women and children enslaved by IS
Rachel Wright, BBC World Service Assignment, July 6, 2023
…One day, when Bahar and her children were in Abu Khattab’s house, a white car with blacked-out windows pulled up. The driver was dressed in black with a long beard, and looked no different from many other IS fighters. Bahar realised she and her children were being sold once more. Overwhelmed with the situation, Bahar screamed at the man to just kill her – she couldn’t bear any more.
But what happened next changed everything. As they drove off, the driver said, “I am taking you somewhere else.” …
Rescue of six Yazidi women after 8 and a half years in captivity
Nadia’s Initiative, June 3, 2023
After weeks of investigation, I am extremely heartened to report that we have rescued six more Yazidi women who were taken captive by ISIS. The women were still children and teenagers when they were first taken captive in 2014. Trafficked out of Iraq and onto Syria, they were rescued on Saturday morning….
Russia invaded Ukraine. Then the sex traffickers moved in to exploit vulnerable women.
As a society, we need to ask ourselves why many people’s first instinct is to find pleasure in the sexual exploitation of another person.
Mitzi Perdue, USA Today, April 20, 2023
As the Russian invasion persists, this situation will as well. The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime predicts at least a 5% increase in Ukrainian human trafficking victims this year. Far from the front lines, internet searches for sexual content featuring Ukrainian women have risen 600% since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. And, appallingly, “Ukraine refugee porn” became a trending search term….
UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
[Devastating news of rape, murder and torture]
New: report by #UN Commission of Inquiry on #Ukraine documents patterns of war crimes by Russian forces. It finds the attacks on energy-related infrastructure and use of #torture may be crimes against humanity. #HRC52 must extend this Ukraine COI mandate.
‘I just hope to live until our victory’
Ukraine’s older women share tales of heartbreak and resilience
By Ivana Kottasová, Yulia Kesaieva, CNN, March 14, 2023
Kyiv, Ukraine (CNN) — Ukraine has a large population of older people — one in four of its residents is over the age of 60 — and most of them are women. Some lived through World War II as children, only to see their lives disrupted again in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine began. When Russia then launched its full-scale invasion last February, many of these women were unable or unwilling to leave….
RUSSIAN BARRAGE ON UKRAINE
The Canadian Press – Mar 8, 2023 [INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY]
Russia unleashed a massive missile barrage on cities across Ukraine early Thursday, targeting energy infrastructure facilities in the first attack on such a scale in three weeks. Ukrainian officials said residential buildings were hit but didn’t immediately say if there were casualties. …
One Year Of Putin’s War Has Been A Catastrophe For Children In Ukraine
by Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes, Mar 6, 2023
In February 2023, the world marked the year of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which brought about horrific atrocities, including, as determined by the U.S. State Department, crimes against humanity. The crimes include execution-style killings of Ukrainian men, women and children, torture in detention, including through beatings, electrocutions, and mock executions, rape and sexual violence, and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians to Russia, including children…
In Focus: War in Ukraine is a crisis for women and girls
UN Women, Feb 22, 2023
…From heightened trafficking and gender-based violence to the loss of crucial livelihoods and rising poverty levels, women and girls of Ukraine are facing severe impacts. The large-scale destruction of infrastructure has left survivor services, healthcare and other critical forms of support out of reach for many.
Today, protecting civilians and providing aid to the nearly 18 million Ukrainians in need must remain top priorities. Human rights abuses—such as acts of sexual violence, which have skyrocketed—must be investigated and justice served to survivors. …
Ukraine war: Russia has committed crimes against humanity, US says
By George Wright, BBC News, Feb 18, 2023
…The US government had already accused Moscow of war crimes, but calling them crimes against humanity means that acts from murder to rape are widespread, systematic and intentionally directed against civilians. It is considered more serious under international law.
There are 15 crimes that count as a crime against humanity – among them murder, enslavement, torture, rape and deportation….
Russia accused of using sexual violence as a weapon of war in Ukraine
By Joanna Plucinska, Anthony Deutsch and Stefaniia Bern, Nov 23, 2022, CBC
Some of the sexual violence involved level of organization that speaks to systematic planning, lawyer says…
UN: Ukraine Facing Sexual Violence and Trafficking Crisis
By Edith M. Lederer, Published June 7, 2022, NBC New York
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield cited “a mountain of credible reports of atrocities committed by Russia’s forces against civilians” …
Rape as a weapon: huge scale of sexual violence inflicted in Ukraine emerges
By Bethan McKernan in Lviv, April 4, 2022, The Guardian
Women and girls have recounted the abuse they have suffered at the hands of Russian soldiers
Gang-rapes, assaults at gunpoint, and rapes in front of children are among the grim testimonies collected by investigators. …
Reports of sexual violence involving Russian soldiers are multiplying, Ukrainian officials say.
by Cora Engelbrecht, NY Times, April 3, 2022
A Ukrainian woman’s account of being repeatedly raped was published in The Times of London, and a member of Ukraine’s Parliament said there were “many more” such assaults. …
Refugee families in Poland still need our support as war in Ukraine pushes generation of children to the brink
Feb 22, 2023, UNICEF
WARSAW, 22 February 2023 – Almost one year since the escalation of the war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a generation of children has experienced 12 months of violence, fear, loss and tragedy. In Poland, UNICEF is working with partners to keep refugee children learning and families healthy and safe but warned today that the refugee crisis is far from over….
Yazidis plead with Canada not to repatriate alleged ISIS members
Survivors of the ISIS genocide campaign say the court order brings fear, anxiety
by Evan Dyer · CBC News · February 2, 2023
The looming return of alleged ISIS members to Canada has brought trauma, worry and fear to people who were invited to Canada as a safe haven after the terrorist group all but destroyed their ancient community in northern Iraq.
“When I first heard the news, I felt the strength leave my body,” Huda Ilyas Alhamad told CBC News in her Winnipeg apartment. She is one of 1,200 survivors of the Yazidi genocide who were resettled in Canada; she spent years as a slave of ISIS members.
“I had to sit down right away. I was heartbroken and terrified at the same time because on one hand they had promised to protect us and bring us here and give us safety, and on the other hand they’re offering that same entryway for these very people who raped and tortured us on a daily basis.”…
Top UN woman urges Muslims: Move Taliban into 21st century
By Edith M. Lederer, AP, January 25, 2023
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The highest-ranking woman at the United Nations said Wednesday she used everything in her “toolbox” during meetings with Taliban ministers to try to reverse their crackdown on Afghan women and girls, and she urged Muslim countries to help the Taliban move from the “13th century to the 21st.”…
Yazidi women kept as slaves by IS appeal to UN to intervene in their fight for compensation
Lawyers demand support from Australia for five victims of Khaled Sharrouf in test case for international law on torture survivors
by Kaamil Ahmed, The Guardian, 24 Jan 2023
Five Yazidi women held as slaves by an Islamic State fighter are appealing to the UN to intervene in their case for compensation in a move lawyers hope will help fix a “lawless” global system that is failing torture survivors….
Yazidi women enslaved by Daesh call for Australian compensation
Arab News, Jan. 24, 2023
LONDON: A group of five Yazidi women enslaved by Daesh have appealed to the UN to pressure the Australian government into paying compensation following their treatment at the hands of a Sydney-born fighter, The Guardian reported…
German parliament recognizes Yazidi ‘genocide’ in Iraq
DW, Jan 19, 2023
The German Bundestag recognized the massacre of Yazidis by jihadists from the so-called Islamic State in Iraq as “genocide.”… In a move hailed by Yazidi community representatives, deputies in the Bundestag passed the motion by the three parliamentary groups in Germany’s ruling centre-left-led coalition and conservative members of parliament….
Interview with Maria Dmytriyeva – Human Rights – Ukraine
The Sania Farooqui Show, May 23, 2022
Maria Dmytriyeva is a long-time women’s rights activist and national gender expert with the Democracy Development Center, an NGO that works on the development of civil society and state of law in Ukraine. Based in Kyiv, Maria currently leads the Women Peace and Security (WPS) section of the Public Council under the Parliamentary Inter-Faction Equal Rights Caucus.
Maria remained in Ukraine after the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, turning her focus to connecting foreign and Ukrainian women’s initiatives to provide humanitarian relief efforts.
Iran protests: Jailed activist Sepideh Qolian describes brutality in letter
Sepideh Qolian says a wing of Evin prison has been turned into a ‘torture and interrogation’ building
By Feranak Amidi, BBC World Service, Jan 10, 2023
One of Iran’s most prominent female activists has described how confessions are forced out of prisoners, in a letter written inside a notorious jail….
Revolt of the Year: The Iranian Women Uprising
The Islamic Republic’s theocratic elite are on the ropes
by Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, New Republic, Dec 29, 2022
It takes a special kind of coward to kill a child and steal the body. To execute someone, and only tell their family afterward. To shoot at people chanting the word “freedom,” and shut off the internet in hopes that no one will find out. In the last three months, the Islamic Republic of Iran has done all of this and more….
This festive season, many displaced women are struggling
With inadequate aid, women-headed households in Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine will find it hard to keep their children fed and warm.
by Eleanor Monbiot, Aljazeera, 26 Dec 2022
This winter will be tougher than any most of us have known in our life time. Record high inflation, and skyrocketing fuel and food prices have led to protests and strikes across the world. Many families are facing difficult decisions on how to spend their dwindling incomes. But for households headed by displaced women, this winter will be even harsher….
Ukraine: Conflict compounds the vulnerabilities of women and girls
The ongoing war in Ukraine continues to take a toll on the well-being of millions of women, girls and young people.
United Nations, Nov 14, 2022
Female Fighters Detail Russian Atrocities in Ukraine
by Nike Ching, VOA News, Sept 26 2022
“They [Russian troops] use forbidden ammunitions like cluster munitions and phosphorus bombs that burn everything to the ground. It’s prohibited by all the civilized world,” Daria Zubenko, a senior sergeant in the Ukrainian armed forces, told VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching on Friday. “We know the facts of women being raped and even children.”
New UN policy paper shows the devastating impacts of the Ukraine war on women and girls
UN Women | Sept 22, 2022
Genocide survivors call for speedy family reunifications
by Susan Korah | Asian Pacific Post | Sept 20, 2022
A Childhood of Fear: The Impact of Genocide on Yazidi Children In Sinjar
Yazidi children whose lives were shattered by ISIS attacks in northern Iraq eight years ago must not be forgotten by the international community … Save the Children said today.
Relief Web, Sept 22, 2022
UN renews commitment to Yazidi community eight years after ISIL onslaught
Every effort must be made to support the Yazidi community in Iraq, the United Nations said on Wednesday, marking eight years since the extremist group ISIL launched a brutal assault on the religious minority.
UN News, August 3, 2022
Ukraine: Conflict compounds the vulnerabilities of women and girls as humanitarian needs spiral
UNFPA, August 2022
USAID allocates US$12.4 million to support access to lifesaving reproductive health and protection services for women and girls in Ukraine
UNFPA, 19 July 2022
G20: Canada claims Russian delegation are personally responsible for ‘war crimes’ in Ukraine
Minister’s accusation comes day after US Treasury secretary says Putin government officials ‘have no place’ at talks
by Staff & Agencies, | G20 | The Guardian | July 15, 2022
Ukraine prosecutors uncover sex trafficking ring preying on women fleeing country
Authorities arrest suspected gang leader who allegedly lured women with false job offers then forced them into prostitution
by Lorenzo Tondo in Kyiv, The Guardian, July 7, 2022
The Psychologists Treating Rape Victims in Ukraine
A grassroots effort is offering mental-health care to Ukrainians who’ve faced sexual violence at the hands of the Russian invasion force.
by Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, July 14, 2022
Turkey should face international court over Yazidi genocide, report says
by Patrick Wintour, The Guardian, July 6, 2022
Yazidi women box their way to recovery
by Rasheed Hussein Rasheed and Kristy Siegfried, UNHCR, 23 June 2022
A boxing project implemented by an NGO Innovation Award winner is empowering displaced Yazidi women and girls in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Yazidi sisters plead with government to expedite 12-year-old brother’s application to come to Canada
by Joanna Roberts, CBC News June 2, 2022
Addressing the Challenges Facing Iraq’s Yazidi Community in 2022
by Zainab Mehdi, Manara Magazine, March 17, 2022
… Despite the reintegration of Yazidis into their faith, difficulties in disclosing encounters with ISIS members have resulted in a number of mental health conditions. This includes dissociative seizures, said to be rampant amongst female Yazidis who endured sexual violence in ISIS custody…
What a win for the Yazidi community : German court hands down first genocide conviction against ISIS member
by Marie Marthe Renée Letoublon, MEIG, February 11, 2022
In Iraq’s Sinjar, Yazidi returns crawl to a halt amid fears of Turkish airstrikes
‘We are afraid of only one thing really, and that is the Turkish military.’
The New Humanitarian, Sinjar Iraq, Feb 10, 2022
Between Belarus And Poland, Yazidi Refugees Found Only Cold And Hunger – Then ‘Came Back To Nothing’ In Iraq
by Jessie Williams, Jan 13, 2022
Yazidi genocide: IS member found guilty in German landmark trial
BBC, Nov 30, 2021
3,000 Yazidis Are Still Missing. Their Families Know Where Some of Them Are.
By Jane Arraf and Sangar Khaleel, NY Times, Oct. 3, 2021
The Missing Yazidis Women And Children Must Be Located And Rescued
by Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes, Sept 25, 2021
… We cannot ensure justice for the Yazidis without finding the missing women and children. If alive, they continue to be subjected to horrific atrocities that need to be put to an end. …
“Nobody’s Listening” is a Virtual Reality experience and immersive exhibition that commemorates the Yazidi genocide committed by ISIS in the summer of 2014 in northern Iraq.
Karlsruhe, Germany 02.10.21 – 09.01.22
Canada needs to reimagine a foreign policy for a leaderless world
by Lloyd Axworthy, Jean Charest, Jennifer Welsh, Jeremy Kinsman, and Ben Roswell, Globe and Mail, August 29, 2021
Sabaya review – extraordinary documentary shows struggle to free women kidnapped by Isis
by Phuong Le, The Guardian, August 18, 2021
Still going through hell’: the search for Yazidi women seven years on
by Kate Denereaz, The Guardian, August 3, 2021
As two women are rescued in Syria after being kidnapped by Isis years earlier, Yazidis renew calls for international help to find the thousands still unaccounted for
Fire destroys shelter for hundreds of families in Yazidi camp
Jerusalem Post, June 5, 2021
Fire burns through Yazidi displacement camp seven years after ISIS genocide
The Washington Post, June 4, 2021
BAGHDAD — Almost 1,400 of Iraq’s Yazidi minority were left homeless Friday after a fire destroyed sections of their displacement camp, adding a new trauma for survivors of a genocide by the Islamic State group…
On GPS: Amal Clooney and Nadia Murad on the Yazidi victims of ISIS
by Fareed Zakaria, CNN, 5:29, May 17, 2021
Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and Nobel prize winner Nadia Murad tell Fareed that Yazidi victims need ISIS to be prosecuted for genocide so they can move on.
ISIL crimes against Yazidis constitute genocide, UN investigation team finds
un.org, May 10, 2021
A UN team investigating ISIL atrocities in Iraq has established “clear and convincing evidence” of genocide against the Yazidi religious minority, the Security Council heard on Monday. (Includes “Convert or die”)
Beekeeper turned spymaster searches for Iraq’s missing Yazidis
by Margaret Evans, CBC News, Apr 16, 2021
Seven years after Yazidi women and children were kidnapped by ISIS, thousands are still missing
Yazidi women forced to choose between going home and their children
CBC News The National, April 13, 2021
The Yazidi women who were captured by ISIS and raped now find themselves unable to return to their community without abandoning their children.
Yazidis in Iraq struggle to rebuild their lives
CBC News The National, April 12, 2021
Almost seven years after ISIS waged a genocidal campaign of violence against the Yazidi people of northern Iraq, they are still waiting for justice and help. Hundreds of thousands are displaced and many believe without international assistance, there is no path forward to rebuild their lives.
Canada to welcome more Yazidi refugees and other survivors of ISIS
By Levon Sevunts | Radio Canada International, April 2, 2021
Ottawa makes it easier for Yazidi families torn apart by ISIS violence to reunite in Canada
by Karen Pauls · CBC News · Mar 23, 2021
New policy expands eligibility for sponsorship to come to Canada
Cast out: the Yazidi women reunited with their children born in Isis slavery
by Martin Chulov and Nechirvan Mando in Erbil, The Guardian, March 12, 2021
Yazidi elders disown former slaves of Islamic State, forcing them to choose between their children and their community
Pope Francis calls for respect for the rights of the Yazidis
by Linda Bordoni, The Vatican News, March 6, 2021
“innocent victims of a senseless and inhumane barbarity”
Yazidis have been forgotten during Covid. They need justice, jobs and a return home
by Nadia Murad, The Guardian, Feb 24, 2021
Survivors of Islamic State brutality are pushed further into the margins as the pandemic causes the world to turn inward
Yazidi campaigners call for suicide strategy in Iraq after 11 found dead in 10 days
Psychologist laments ‘a cry for help that is not being heard’
by Nicky Harley, The National News, January 19, 2021
‘Making our home safe again’: meet the women who clear land mines
Hundreds of thousands of Improvised Explosive Devices were planted by ISIS.
by Jessie Williams, The Guardian, Jan 31, 2021
A Yazidi Woman Searches For Her Lost Daughter, Kidnapped By ISIS 6 Years Ago
by Jane Arraf, npr.org, Nov 24, 2020
The Least We Can Do premiere and discussion, One World Refugee Film Festival
Media Advisory, Dec 8, 2020
What are a country’s international moral obligations during a pandemic?
Press release, Women Refugees Advocacy Project, Oct 26, 2020
Call for intervention in the humanitarian crisis taking place as thousands of Yazidi leave refugee camps to return to Sinjar
“I urge the Canadian government to explore every potential diplomatic and political strategy to protect and aid the Yazidi refugees as they return to Sinjar. Action must be taken quickly.” Lloyd Axworthy, Chair, World Refugee & Migration Council…
Call for intervention in the humanitarian crisis taking place as thousands of Yazidi leave refugee camps to return to Sinjar
Financial Post, Sept 15, 2020
Call for humanitarian intervention in Sinjar
WRAP Sept 15 2020 press release
Iraq: From one crisis to another for the Yazidi
by Doctors Without Borders – 10 August 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on the Yazidi community in Sinjar district in north-west Iraq. Although there are not many cases recorded in the area, the restrictive measures adopted in Iraq (like many other countries worldwide) to curb the spread of the virus are burdening the daily lives and well-being of an already vulnerable community. …Restrictions having the effect of: less work, more domestic abuse, surge of depression, unwanted pregnancies (as can’t get to the one hospital for family planning), etc.
United Nations Digital Dialogue Commemorating The Sixth Anniversary Of The Genocidal Campaign Against The Yazidi Minority
Co-hosted by: Nadia’s Initiative and the Permanent Missions of the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, streamed online at webtv.un.org., August 3, 2020
Six years after ISIL started its genocidal campaign: The state of the Yazidi community… Many of the over 120,000 Yazidis who have returned to their ancestral homelands in the region of Sinjar are struggling to rebuild their lives. The majority of these individuals have been without vital services since the summer of 2014, including healthcare, education, and livelihoods support.
MAG phone calls help Yazidi families returning to mine-ridden Sinjar
Relief Web, Aug 3, 2020 (MAG/Mines Advisory Group)
…MAG is warning of the dangers of improvised landmines pose to hundreds of Yazidi families returning to the Sinjar district. Coronavirus travel and work restrictions are leaving Yazidi families with little choice but to return from the refugee camps and settlements to which they fled to escape ISIS. The families are returning to a region littered with improvised landmines and other deadly explosives left behind by the same ISIS forces responsible for the massacre that devastated their communities…people are killed or injured by these devices on a daily basis.
Shingalian displaced people are continuing to farewell to the camps
by Basim Qasim, Ezidi 24, June 18, 2020 (Translation – Tahseen Haskany)
“After tragic conditions and spending more than five years in the IDP camps, we decided to return to our city. It doesn’t matter how can we live In Shingal but, it’s better than living in camps.”
Yazidis returning to Sinjar, despite fresh conflict and Covid-19
efe-epa By Marta Rullán, Madrid Desk, 30 Jun 2020
Despite Turkish bombings, the continued threat of the Islamic State terror organization and the global Covid-19 pandemic, Yazidi refugees are returning home to Sinjar six years after they were forced to flee genocide.
After six years of living under the two meters of nylon, Ezidi people decide to return to Shingal
by farhad barakat ali, June 15, 2020, Ezidi24
A Yazidi Survivor’s Struggle Shows The Pain That Endures After ISIS Attack
by Jane Arraf, NPR, August 8, 2020
Um Hiba’s trauma over being enslaved, raped and beaten by ISIS after fighters raided her village didn’t end when she was freed three years ago.
Six years on: Yazidi survivors see ‘only empty promises’ in aftermath of massacre
Reuters, The Globe and Mail, August 4, 2020
Yazidi children and rape victims ‘left abandoned’ after Isis captivity – report
by Kaamil Ahmed, The Guardian, July 30, 2020
Amnesty calls for action to help victims overcome trauma, as families return home to landscape littered with landmines
Urgent Action: Turkey bombing villages in Kurdistan
CPT (Christina Peacemaker Teams), June 14, 2020
Nadia Murad: “Mount Sinjar is a war zone right now. Turkish fighter jets are bombing multiple locations. Over 150 Yazidi families had just returned to their homes. When will @IraqiGovt & the international community apply some courage & political will to resolving security challenges in Sinjar?
‘Yazidi women are strong’: Iraq’s female landmine clearance teams
Isis planted mines across Sinjar and displaced the Yazidi community. Now a group of women are clearing the way for the return of their people
by Kate Denereaz, The Guardian, 7 Jul 2020
Will The Yazidis Survive In The Middle East?
… On May 29, 2020, Nadia Murad [said]… “Turkish-backed militias are silently carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Yazidis in Afrin, Syria. They are kidnapping women, killing civilians, and destroying houses and shrines.”
by Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes, June 1, 2020
From genocide to pandemic: Yazidis in Iraq face looming mental health crisis as Covid-19 spreads by Sophia Akram, The New Arab, May 8, 2020
Investigators building case in bid to prosecute Islamic State figures for crimes against Yazidis
The Commission for International Justice and Accountability is sharing its findings from Iraq with the UN team and is pursuing more evidence from Syria, where the Islamic State group made its last stand.
by Sarah El Deeb, QASR AL-MIHRAB, Iraq, The Associated Press, May 21, 2020
German Trial Accuses Iraqi of Genocide in Killing of Yazidi Girl
The Frankfurt trial of the 27-year-old man accused of being an ISIS member is believed to be the first that carries the charge of genocide in relation to the Yazidis.
by Christopher F. Schuetze, New York Times, April 25, 2020
How a gift of land is helping Yazidi refugees farm again
After ISIS drove them from their homeland, displaced people are returning to their roots. by Glynis Ratcliffe, Broadview, Feb 7, 2020
Torn apart by Islamic State and reunited in Calgary, three Yazidi sisters see a brighter future
by Christina Frangou, The Globe and Mail, Jan 19, 2020
‘A healing farm:’ Produce project helps Yazidi refugees in Manitoba plant roots
by The Canadian Press, December 24, 2019
How Does the Human Soul Survive Atrocity?
After the horror of ISIS captivity, tens of thousands of Iraqis — many of them children — are caught up in a mental-health crisis unlike any in the world.
by Jennifer Percy Photographs by Adam Ferguson, New York Times, Nov 1 2019
ISIS has a plan to bust out 70,000 supporters from Kurdish jails now that the US has abandoned the area to the Turkish military
by Mitch Prothero, Business Insider, Oct 10, 2019
ISIL is building a new caliphate from inside a Syrian refugee camp, and the West has no plan to combat it
by Josh Rogin, National Post, Aug 16, 2019
Yezidis submit thousands of genocide testimonies – but still no int’l court
by Zhelwan Z. Wali 7/8/2019
ISIS setting fire to crops in Syria and Iraq out of ‘cold-blooded revenge,’ monitor says CBC Radio · Jun 11, 2019
Farming project helps Yazidi refugees return to roots
by Angela Johnston, CBC News, Jun 11, 2019
All ISIS Has Left Is Money. Lots of It.
Even without a physical state, the Islamic State can still fund its main product: political violence.
by David Kenner, The Atlantic, March 24, 2019
Yazidi woman doctor brings former ISIS captives’ souls back to life
by Charlie Dunmore and Dalal Mawad, UNHCR, January 16, 2019
Far from the crumbling caliphate but haunted by ISIS
Yazidi refugees in Canada live with profound and persistent trauma — and they fear for their families still in Iraq and Syria
by Emily Rauhala and Amanda Coletta, Washington Post, April 10, 2019
I am a survivor of Islamic State violence. Don’t forget us.
by Nadia Murad, Washington Post, April 4, 2019
Interview with NY Times journalist Rukmini Callimachi
The Cut on Spotify, March 28, 2019
Starting 25 minutes in… She cried to hear their stories – Rukmini describes the enslavement of the Yazidi women and girls by ISIS as systematic, based on a theology of rape, a pre-planned enslavement of a specific people.
ISIS flag taken down, YPJ flag planted in Baghouz
ANF NEWS, March 22, 2019
Nadia Murad Calls For More Action To Help The Abducted Yazidi Women And Girls
by Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes, March 16, 2019
Prioritizing ISIS over survivors?
by Nadia Murad, Trust, March 12, 2019
Winnipeg Yazidis call on government to act after bodies of beheaded women found in Syria
CBC, March 6, 2019
Meeting the mental-health needs of London’s Yazidi refugees
Hundreds of Yazidis from Iraq have resettled in southwestern Ontario. Many are dealing with considerable trauma — are local institutions equipped to support them? by Mary Baxter, TVO, Feb. 28, 2019
‘We are now free’: Yazidis fleeing Isis start over in female-only commune
The Guardian, Feb 25, 2019
Yazidi women who escaped ISIS now facing threats, harassment in Canada
CBC Radio, Feb 5, 2019
Today on The Current: We examine the legal and ethical conundrum of what to do about returning Canadian ISIS fighters
CBC Radio, Feb 7, 2019
Why not let the women and children in the Tijuana camp resettle in Canada?
Lloyd Axworthy, The Globe and Mail, Dec 12, 2018
Advocates urge more support for Yazidi refugees suffering seizures from PTSD, CBC News, Dec 7, 2018
Feds to temporarily extend one-year period for Yazidi refugees to reunite with family members in Iraq
The Globe and Mail, Dec 5, 2018
Yazidi refugees in Canada suffering PTSD-related seizures need their families: doctor
CBC Radio, Dec 4, 2018
Ottawa urged to reunite Yazidi refugees with their families to help treat rare disorder
The Globe and Mail, Dec 2, 2018
For a Yazidi refugee in Canada, the trauma of ISIS triggers rare, terrifying seizures
The Globe and Mail, Dec 1, 2018
MP Jenny Kwan’s address on Yazidi family reunification to the Citizenship and Immigration Committee
Canadian Parliament, Nov 28, 2018
Trauma survivors can change society says psychologist helping Yazidi survivors of ISIS
The Current, CBC Radio, Nov 5, 2018
Yazidi Women Comment on the Need for Trauma Care Programs
Canadian Parliament Press Gallery, 32 min, Oct 29, 2018
MP Jenny Kwan tables Yazidi trauma care petition in Parliament
1 min video, filmed off TV, Oct 29, 2018
Une réfugiée yézidie réclame l’aide d’Ottawa
La Presse, 29 Octobre 2018
Yazidi refugee woman urges government for help navigating new world CBC, Oct 29, 2018
Yazidi refugee woman urges Canadian government to help navigate new world
The Star, Oct 29, 2018
Yazidi refugee woman urges government for help navigating new world
National Post, Oct 29, 2018
A Nobel Peace Prize winner who works to help women is donating her $500,000 winnings to victims of sex crimes
Business Insider, Oct 11, 2018
Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who was captured by ISIS, just won the Nobel Peace Prize
Vox, Oct 5, 2018
Traumatized Yazidi women face nightmarish healing process. Here’s what Canadians can do to help
National Observer, Oct 5, 2018
Save more Yazidi women fleeing ISIS sex slavery, refugee advocates plead to government
CBC Radio Early Edition, Sept 27, 2018
Take in more Yazidi women fleeing ISIS, refugee advocates urge Ottawa, CBC News, Sept 27, 2018
The Brett Kavanaugh case shows we still blame women for the sins of men
Rebecca Solnit, The Guardian, Sept 21, 2018
Broken People, Broken Promises: How Canada Is Failing the Yazidi
The Tyee, Sept 20, 2018
Trauma and perceived social rejection among Yazidi women and girls who survived enslavement and genocide
NCBI Research, Sept 13, 2018
We can help the Yazidis return home safely
Sally Armstrong, The Globe and Mail, July 3, 2018
The Wrong Kind of Woman: A Timeline of ISIS Killings Due to Gender
by Madre.org, Timeline from July 22, 2014 to Nov 2017
Hundreds watch as Isis burns caged sex slaves to death
by Bel Trew, Cairo, The Times, June 8 2016
ISIS selling, crucifying, burying children alive in Iraq: U.N.
Alarabiya News, Feb 4, 2015
Nadia Murad
https://nadiasinitiative.org/ info@nadiasinitiative.org
https://www.facebook.com/
https://twitter.com/
WRAP Press Releases
Now is the time to keep our promise to the survivors of ISIS
Oct 25, 2018
Le temps est venu de tenir vos promesses envers les survivantes de l’EI
25 Oct, 2018
Nadia Murad receives Nobel Peace Prize for drawing attention to the torture of Yazidi women and girls in war
Oct 5, 2018
The Canadian government must keep its promise to Yazidi survivors
Sept 27, 2018
Media Advisory for Sept 27th Ceremony & Press Conference
Sept 24, 2018
Majed El Shafie in Vancouver Sept 26th-30th
Sept 17, 2018
Vancouver women support Yazidi women and girls in Canada
Sept 5, 2018
Petition
The Canadian government must keep its promise to female victims of ISIS
Twitter Women Refugees Advocacy Project
Contact wrapforjustice@gmail.com
Road to Recovery:
Resettlement Issues of Yazidi women and children in Canada
House of Commons Report, MP Jenny Kwan was Vice-Chair of the committee.
Resources
1. Canada will take in 1,200 primarily Yazidi refugees, by Terry Pedwell, Macleans. ‘“As many have experienced unimaginable trauma, both physical and emotional, many will have unique psychological and social needs such as trauma counselling,”’ [Minister of Immigration and Refugees] Hussen said.
2. Canada Struggles as It Opens Its Arms to Victims of ISIS, by Catherine Porter, New York Times, March 16, 2018.
3. ‘Please Take Us Back To Iraq’: A Yazidi Family’s Traumatic First Days In Canada, by Naomi Buck, Chatelaine, December 8, 2017.
4. Freed from ISIS, Yazidi Women Remain Trapped by Trauma by Alexandra Bradford, News Deeply, March 14, 2017
5. The Yazidis are in danger of extinction and Ottawa’s stopped helping, by Barbara Kay, National Post, June 19, 2018.
WRAP Letter to the Globe and Mail (unpublished)
Re: “For a Yazidi refugee in Canada, the trauma of ISIS triggers rare terrifying seizures“, by Christine Frangou, The Globe and Mail, December 1, 2018
To the Editor,
We are the group who initiated the petition that Jenny Kwan, MP, tabled in Parliament on October 29, 2018. The Women Refugees Advocacy Project (WRAP), created the petition out of concern that Yazidi women and girls, survivors of enslavement and torture by ISIS, and refugees to Canada, were not receiving effective trauma care following their enslavement and torture by ISIS.
In our understanding, Yazidi women and girls are suffering not from a psychiatric disorder, but from a natural response to harrowing trauma. The professionals interviewed by Ms. Frangou, having been unable to sufficiently help, could yet reach out for guidance and training to those who have developed more successful means of working with survivors of torture. Specifically, Dr. Jan Kizilhan leads the world-famous program in Germany for female Yazidi survivors of torture.
The federal government interviewed Dr. Kizilhan, then ignored his advice. The results are made clear in Ms. Frangou’s article.
Along with Yazidi family reunification, there is much left for the federal government, with adequate funding, to do to help these courageous survivors. Meanwhile, we await parliament’s response to our petition asking for exactly this.
Sincerely,
Women Refugees Advocacy Project